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Why was there a New Culture Movement when the 1911 Revolution had already toppled the monarchy and established the new Republic? |
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See answer below. |
In the debut issue of Youth Magazine, Chen Duxiu published a letter titled Call to Youth (敬告青年) in which he proposed six points to young people: 1) be free, not enslaved; 2) be progressive, not conservative; 3) be proactive, not withdrawn; 4) be cosmopolitan, not parochial; 5) be practical, not rhetorical, and 6) be scientific, not speculative. Furthermore, he pointed out, “In order for the Chinese people to deliver themselves from ignorance and the shame of being shallow, they must make haste to catch up with western nations by attaching equal importance to science and human rights.” The ideas of science and democracy were thus introduced.
Hu Shi contributed to New Youth as a writer and editor. In early 1917, he published an article in New Youth titled A Preliminary Discussion of Literary Reform (文學改良芻議), which garnered widespread attention. His views espousing liberalism, questioning before believing, scientific inquiry and skepticism about the written word promoted the cultural reform.
After Cai Yuanpei took up office, his approach was to “study all classics, encompass every school of thought, promote intellectual freedom and embrace diversity.” While he held renowned conservative scholars like Gu Hongming (辜鴻銘) in regard, he recruited younger, modern scholars like Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi and Li Dazhao as well. He also reformed the university’s leadership system, reorganized the courses of study, established scientific research institutes, advocated civic education and pioneered co-ed education, transforming the university into the nerve center of both the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement during his term of office. He was responsible for shaping it into a renowned educational institution the prestige of which remains uncontested to this day.
Named the Red Building for being constructed entirely of red bricks, the first floor of the building housed the library, the second housed classrooms and university offices including President Cai Yuanpei’s office, while the third and fourth housed classrooms. It was a venue for teaching and administration frequented by a succession of intellectuals like Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong and Lu Xun. In 1919, when Peking University became the strategic headquarters of the May Fourth Movement, a number of key activities took place at the Red Building and the sports ground to its north.
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Why was there a New Culture Movement when the 1911 Revolution had already toppled the monarchy and established the new Republic? |
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After the Opium War, despite attempts by those with integrity and vision to save the nation via initiating various reforms, successive failures of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days’ Reform and the Late Qing Reform indicated that the Qing dynasty must be overthrown via revolution. Though they finally succeeded in toppling the empire in 1912 and establishing the Republic of China, some people within the nation continued to harbor hopes for and work towards reviving the monarchy. Also, with the nation’s political power in the hands of despotic warlords, the new regime was, like old wine in a new bottle, still very much an empire albeit without an emperor. China’s intellectuals saw the need for a new culture to help legitimize its new form of government. The Western ideologies of democracy and science were thus introduced to uproot despotism and the deep-seated tradition associated with it; in particular the traditional culture modeled on Confucian morals and norms so vital to despotism. It was imperative for China to radically change its society, customs and thought accordingly. To this end, the New Culture Movement was initiated. |
